One advantage of AMPL is the similarity of its syntax to the mathematical notation of optimization problems. This allows for a very concise and readable definition of problems in the domain of optimization. Many modern solvers available on the NEOS Server (formerly hosted at the Argonne National Laboratory, currently hosted at the University of Wisconsin, Madison[3]) accept AMPL input. According to the NEOS statistics AMPL is the most popular format for representing mathematical programming problems.

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AMPL features a mix of declarative and imperative programming styles. Formulating optimization models occurs via declarative language elements such as sets, scalar and multidimensional parameters, decision variables, objectives and constraints, which allow for concise description of most problems in the domain of mathematical optimization.

AMPL is available for many popular 32- and 64-bit operating systems including Linux, Mac OS X, some Unix, and Windows.[5] The translator is proprietary software maintained by AMPL Optimization LLC. However, several online services exist, providing free modeling and solving facilities using AMPL.[6][7] A free student version with limited functionality and a free full-featured version for academic courses are also available.[8]

AMPL Optimization LLC was founded by the inventors of AMPL, Robert Fourer, David Gay, and Brian Kernighan. The new company took over the development and support of the AMPL modeling language from Lucent Technologies, Inc.

A transportation problem from George Dantzig is used to provide a sample AMPL model. This problem finds the least cost shipping schedule that meets requirements at markets and supplies at factories.[14]